I'll Still Be Here In The Morning
by purpledragon6
Summary: In the aftermath of their trip into the Unknown, the brother's find themselves sharing a bedroom for the first time. Gregory is ecstatic at the idea, now if only his favorite and only big brother would just wake up! Mentions of BeatricexWirt later on.
1. Wake Up!

**A/N: I AM IN LOVE WITH OVER THE GARDEN WALL! With that, I really wanted to write something cute and fluffy centered around our two boys so with that I give you this one shot with no name!**

**Plot Summary: In the aftermath of their trip into the Unknown, the brother's find themselves sharing a bedroom for the first time. Gregory is ****ecstatic at the idea, now if only his favorite and only big brother would just wake up!**

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><p>Bright light shone behind Greg's eyes as he laid in a rather uncomfortable bed that was not his own. Curious, his eyes fluttered opened slowly and were met with a now piercing light that was unlike the gentle sunlight that always flowed into his room in the morning. Grunting, he sat up and slowly began to look around at his surroundings. He soon found that he was in a stark white room, with a beeping monitor to his left and a few chairs and a door a little further than that. This was clearly not his bedroom, and with a frown he looked up to find that the source of the 'sunlight' was in fact a series of lights attached to the ceiling.<p>

"Huh, I wonder where were are now." He thought outloud, feeling no panic about the current situation what so ever, as was in his boyish nature to do so. "Where do you think, Wirt?"

No answer, and a quick scan of the left side of the room reviled to Greg that his big brother was no where in sight. Looking over to his right, he found a TV mounted to the wall, a randomly placed potted plant; whose bright terracotta colored pot and emerald leaves clashed badly with the over all paleness of the room, and a pale curtain which hid the rest of the room from view.

"Now where is that brother o'mine?" Greg asked no one in particular, straining his eyes in an attempt to see passed the curtain.

Shapes and outlines were present, and he could just make out the form of another beeping monitor, connected to what looked to be another bed beside his. A tall lump was concealed under several light blankets, just as Greg had been moments earlier. Frowning, he curiously climbed over to the edge of his own bed and swung his short legs over the side in an attempt to gently lower himself down to the floor.

"A-almost there." He grunted, gripping tightly to his sheets as he got closer and closer to the floor and in a quick trip, he was standing on solid floor. "There! Now to find Wirt!"

Turning swiftly on his heels, he toddled over to the curtain and took hold of its rubbery surface and with a harsh pull, he attempted to pull it back. However, he only managed to pull back the piece that he was holding, and not the rest of the curtain. Frowning, he looked up to see what the curtain was stuck on, and he found a plastic ring, which was to high for him to reach, was holding the curtain in place by a hook attached to it. Huffing, he turned back to the curtain in his hand and quickly pulled it over his head, figuring that he'd better go under it.

Smiling softly once he felt the curtain fall over him, he looked up to find that there was in fact a bed, as he had thought. Beside it, there was a slightly damp, red, cone hat and his heart filled with joy, knowing that that was his brother's hat. With a sudden burst of energy, he pulled himself onto the other's bed and onto the soft blankets that kept his beloved big brother covered.

"Wirt! I think we're back! Wir-" He stopped when his eyes met the face of his older brother.

His usually pale skin was pure white now, as is someone had taken a sponge and wiped away what little color he had in his face away, save for the skin under his eyes, which was a funny purple color. His chocolate brown eyes were also closed, and the rest of his face was covered in a funny looking clear mask, which was connected to the device that Gregory had thought was a monitor earlier.

"Wirt? Whats wrong?" Greg poked his brother's cheek from around the mask, and wondered what that funny device was.

Taking hold of it, he gently pulled it up and laid his ear down next to his brother's cheek and listened as cold air wooshed down from the mask and tickled Gregory's ear and with a soft giggle, he gently put it back down onto his brother's face and smiled at it.

"That feels like the North Wind! Oh, Wirt! I forgot to tell you about him!" Gregory giggled, poking his brother a few times over and waiting for his eyes to crack open.

They didn't, no matter how much Gregory poked him, and this was making the small boy frustrated. Frowning a little deeper, he reach over and forced his brother's eyelids opened and looked into them for signs of awareness. The black pupils of his brother's eyes were small, and the eyes itself looked slightly tilted towards the top of Wirt's eye. In a touch of fear, Gregory released the eyelids and crawled back on the bed.

"Oh no! I think I broke your eyes!" Gregory gasped, crawling back until his hand touched the edge of the bed and something hard.

Looking down, he found a clipboard attached to the bed by a hook and even though he wasn't the best reader yet, he could spot his older brother's name from a mile away. Picking up the clipboard, he quickly settled it into his lap and did the best he could to pick through the black squiggles on the page, hoping that it would offer a little insight into what was wrong with his older brother.

"W-Wirt, W-W-Walters?" He started, smiling softly at his older brother's name, and starting on the next word, "Darn, how come there are no pictures on this thing?"

A gasp suddenly sounded from behind him, and in his childish mind he had hoped for a moment that it was Wirt. Looking up, his hopes were quickly crushed when he saw that Wirt had not moved a muscle and that the voice had come from someone else. Turning his head, he found a young woman draped in white standing behind him. She was pale, with poofy brown hair and had a beauty mark on her face.

"Ghost lady!" Greg yelped in a cheerful tone, standing up so quickly that he did not notice the chart fall.

"You're awake!" She gasped in a relieved tone, stepping closer to the bed and plucking the small boy up.

"I am, but my brother isn't! I tried poking him but he won't wake up... Whats wrong with him, ghost lady?" The woman ignored his comment and quickly set him down to take up the chart.

"Well, lets see." She whispered as she read through Wirt's chart, her lips falling slightly as she spoke.

Setting down the chart, she went over to Wirt's bed and took out a flashlight from her jacket pocket and clicked it on. She then parted Wirt's eye and shone her light inside. Greg was just about to inform her that he had already tried that, when the woman stepped away and clicked off her light.

"Well? Whats wrong with him?" Greg huffed, picking up the chart once more and trying to read it again as the woman turned to him.

"Sweetheart, your brother is... Well, hes in a coma." She said in a gentle voice, not wanting to sugarcoat things for the young boy.

"A what?" Greg puffed his cheeks out curiously and crawled over to his brother's side.

"a state of deep unconsciousness." The woman explained, trying to chose words that the boy would understand.

"Un-conch- sea- us?" Greg sounded out, tasting the word on his tongue to see if he liked it or not. "Whats that?"

"Well... Its like sleeping, except its very hard to wake up from it." Her voice was still gentle, but her face was now stone cold.

"Sleeping? Is that all?" Greg pouted, beginning to poke his brother once more. "Can't we just wake him up with an alarm clock or something?"

"I'm afraid not... There isn't much we can do for him except wait." With this, she gently wrapped her arms around the small boy. "Your brother was in very bad shape when you two got here. Theres no telling when he'll wake up."

Greg felt his blood chill a little at the woman's words. He didn't know what a coma was, but he did know that bad was bad and not being able to wake up was bad as well. Looking over at his big brother, he noticed the pale color of his face once more, jumping a bit when he realized just how much like a ghost Wirt looked like.

"B-but he has to wake up soon! We have school tomorrow, and I haven't told him about the North Wind yet!" Greg wind, rushing over to his big brother and curling up on his chest. "Come on Wirt! You gotta wake up now!"

"Honey-" Greg cut the woman off suddenly.

"Wirt! You have to wake up!" Greg cried, his tears splashing down onto his brother's neck and sliding down into the pillows under his head.

Wirt did not respond to any of this, and Greg began to push onto his chest a little bit in an attempt to shake him awake as he felt frustrated tears fill his own dark eyes again. He suddenly wrapped his arms around his brother's neck and buried his face into it as the woman went to Greg quickly and rolled him off of Wirt's chest and onto the space of bed beside his brother's arm, which Gregory quickly clung to like a lifeline. Frowning, the woman began patting Greg's back in an attempt to calm him down, stopping only when she felt the boy's breathing even out and his body go slightly limp as he fell into his own state of sleep.


	2. Beatrice

**A/N: I'm on an OTGW kick today so I am going to write this and hopefully update the rest of my OTGW stories just for the fun of it XD **

**Warning: BEATRICExWIRT! Infinite Eye rolls is in this :D**

**P.S: Please read 'Goodnight Beatrice' if you haven't.**

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><p>The gentle beating of a heart always put Gregory's mind at ease for some reason. This moment in the hospital was no different, as he curled closer to his older brother's chest, his actions must like that of a newborn kitten as his ear searched around for the calming noise.<p>

_Bump, thump, thump._

There was that sound, ringing lowly in the teen's frail chest and unknowingly lulling the smaller boy to a deeper sleep. This would not last for long, as Gregory was soon jolted out of his peaceful sleep by a frantic hand being placed on his back. His eyes cracked open and a soft groan left his lips as he rolled over off of his comfy zone and squinted against the lights to see who had awoken him. A young girl with short black hair that ended in puffy spots around her ears with wide and frightened eyes looked down at him. Her shaking hands were dark, and yet her face was caked with white make-up with smudged up black makeup around her eyes and mouth, looking as if it had just been half-hazard wiped away. It took Greg a moment to put a name to this new face, but he smiled warmly when he finally did.

"You must be Wirt's Sara. I'm Gregory." He yawned, sitting up and extending his hand in a good hearted way, just like his dad had taught him when meeting new people. "And this lump over here is Wirt."

"Greg, how is he?" Sara gasped out suddenly, her voice shaking just as much as her hands as she reached out to touch Wirt's face, only to be stopped by Gregory's small hand.

"The ghost lady said that Wirt was sleeping for a long while," Greg tried to explain, stretching out his tiny limbs a little bit before patting his brother's chest. "And I already tried that, but poking him just won't do it."

Sara switched her attention from Wirt to the little boy beside him and she offered him a very weak smile though she was still very worried about her friend. Sighing softly, she scanned the beside for a nearby chair and quickly sat in the first one she spotted. Greg took this as an invite to crawl over from Wirt's chest, over to Sara's lap. The older girl didn't mind and once Greg was comfy, he looked up at her and began to study her face a little more.

"Wirts right. You are really pretty." He smiled brightly and pointed a thumb at his older brother. "Wirt has a real good eye for pretty stuff. Even our friend Beatrice!"

"T-that's nice, Greg." Sara sighed with a soft smile, gently petting the boy's head in an attempt to calm herself down. "How are you feeling, by the way?"

"Okay, I guess. Its not much fun without my best big brother buddy to talk to, but I'm good." He smiled a toothy grin, reaching up his own hand to pat Sara's hair. "But now I've got you to talk to, so I guess that makes things up a little."

He smiled even bigger than before, and was about to open up his mouth to speak again when his tummy suddenly cut him off by rumbling loudly. Gasping softly, he placed his hands over his tummy and waited to hear the sound again before finally determining that he was in fact very hungry. Sara seemed to notice this as well, as she offered the boy a kind smile.

"Come on, Greg." She said suddenly as she wrapped her arms around the boy's waist and slowly stood up. "Theres a cafeteria just down the hall. Lets see if we can find you something to eat."

"Oh boy! I hope they have potatoes, and apple juice, and molasses, and some flies, but not for me. They're for my frog, and apples, and- " The boy kept his list going even as Sara opened the door and exited the room, leaving Wirt in his bed alone.

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><p><em>Around the hospital bed, a gentle breeze blew about it, causing its inhabitant to curl up closer inside of himself to keep warm, but the closer he curled, the colder the air blew. Shivering way down to his bones, the young male's chocolate brown eyes began to crack open, tiredly searching for the source of the breeze. His eyes soon stopped at a nearby open window, which he was almost certain had been closed earlier.<em> _Frowning, his eyes squinted a little, as if searching for the one who had opened the window. He was taken by surprise however, when his eyes landed upon her. _

_She was a slim built young woman, with her red hair done back in an abstract hair bun and a simple blue dress kept the rest of her lily white body covered. She stood on the window sill, mindless to the cold air that was brushing along the bottom hem of her skirt as her dark eyes laid down upon the figure in the bed. Jumping quickly from the window, she rushed to the male and threw herself upon his frame in a rather dramatic fashion. _

_"W-Wirt!?" She cried, nuzzling her soft hair into his neck as she clung to him. "Oh my gosh, I heard you were in the hospital a-and I didn't think it was that bad but-"_

_"B-Beatrice!? Wirt coughed in surprise, attempting to wriggle his body out of her tight grip. "W-what are you d-doing here?" _

_"I should be asking you the same thing, idiot!" She suddenly pushed off of him and lightly slapped his shoulder. "What did you do to end up like this!? What happened after you left the Unknown?"_

_"W-we were... In the water, and everything went dark after that..." Wirt muttered as he attempted to call back the bitter memory. "That still doesn't explain why you're here, though." _

_"Why wouldn't I be here?" She pouted out her cheeks, poking the other's chest idly. _

_"S-shouldn't you be back in the Unknown?" The look that suddenly fell over the young girl's face made Wirt's heart sink into his stomach. _

_"Wirt... Where do you think you are?"_


	3. Wirt

**A/N: Time for an update! XD Only because you guys are so amazing and I love all of your reviews! **

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><p>Around the hospital bed, a gentle breeze blew about it, causing its inhabitant to curl up closer inside of himself to keep warm, but the closer he curled, the colder the air blew. Shivering way down to his bones, the young male's chocolate brown eyes began to crack open, tiredly searching for the source of the breeze. His eyes soon stopped at a nearby open window, which he was almost certain had been closed earlier. Frowning, his eyes squinted a little, as if searching for the one who had opened the window. He was taken by surprise however, when his eyes landed upon her.<p>

She was a slim built young woman, with her red hair done back in an abstract hair bun and a simple blue dress kept the rest of her lily white body covered. She stood on the window sill, mindless to the cold air that was brushing along the bottom hem of her skirt as her dark eyes laid down upon the figure in the bed. Jumping quickly from the window, she rushed to the male and threw herself upon his frame in a rather dramatic fashion.

"W-Wirt!?" She cried, nuzzling her soft hair into his neck as she clung to him. "Oh my gosh, I heard you were in the hospital a-and I didn't think it was that bad but-"

"B-Beatrice!? Wirt coughed in surprise, attempting to wriggle his body out of her tight grip. "W-what are you d-doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing, idiot!" She suddenly pushed off of him and lightly slapped his shoulder. "What did you do to end up like this!? What happened after you left the Unknown?"

"W-we were... In the water, and everything went dark after that..." Wirt muttered as he attempted to call back the bitter memory. "That still doesn't explain why you're here, though."

"Why wouldn't I be here?" She pouted out her cheeks, poking the other's chest idly.

"S-shouldn't you be back in the Unknown?" The look that suddenly fell over the young girl's face made Wirt's heart sink into his stomach.

"Wirt... Where do you think you are?" Beatrice's voice was low and shaky as she spoke, her pale hand reaching up suddenly to touch the side of Wirt's cheek, only to yank her hand away as if she had been burned. "Woah... Y-you're really cold!"

"You left the window open!" Wirt exclaimed as he attempted to sit up with slight difficulty as the woman's weight bore down onto him. "And I'm in a hospital back home, obviously."

"Obviously!?" Beatrice shrieked suddenly, pushing herself quickly from Wirt's body and rushing over to the still opened window and peering out of it. "Come here and look."

Wirt strained to sit up, his body still sore from his lack of movement, Beatrice's hug, and that air contraption still strapped to his face. Grunting, he feebly threw his legs over the side of the bed and shakily attempted to stand on his own. He only managed to apply part of his weight before it felt like the world's gravity was crushing up, no doubt an affect from getting up as suddenly as he did. Beatrice turned suddenly, finding her friend clutching the railing of his bed. with a soft gasp, she rushed to him and looped her left arm around his middle to keep him standing.

"I didn't mean right now! You should have stayed in bed!" She scolded him, before dragging him over to the window anyhow. "I swear, you can be such a push over sometimes."

"Oh, Beatrice. Though your face and outer dress may have changed, you are still that wayward flying blue bird that we met in the woods." Wirt muttered, his voice taking on a sing-songy and poetic tune, as was in his nature to do so at random times such as this.

"And you're still a dork." Beatrice replied, helping him to the open window, drawing her arms closer around his frame when another cold breeze shook the boy's lithe body.

Snuggling closer to her warmth, the young male cracked his eyes open against the chilling air and took a look out the window, his eyes bulging out to beyond their normal size when he caught sight of the world outside of the bedroom window. The old grist mill was just a stone's throw away, standing crooked and in shambles, but still keeping just a faint ghost of its former glory. Just beyond that, he could see several small children with dark red hair rushing about after a spotted dog, pulling at it's poor tail whenever they got close enough.

"The Unknown... I never left..." He muttered in shock, his fingers trembling as he brought them up to his hair and knotted them in his deep colored locks.

"I don't know why you're still here but-"

"This... This is the Woodsman's house..." Wirt guessed numbly, wincing when Beatrice suddenly released his waist and left him to stand on her own.

"Wirt, this is my house." She stated firmly, turning to her shorter counterpart and folding her arms over her chest. "And you're in my room."

With a new found strength, the poor boy managed to go complete pale and then red in the face while waving his arms about himself in a random way, stumbling away from the red headed woman as if doing so would make the situation any less awkward. Beatrice frowned, in real concern as she went to her friend suddenly and pushed him back in a way that was in no means gentle. Hitting the bed, Wirt bounced a little on the mattress, his earlier panic soon returning as the taller teen was soon climbing onto him and laid her body on his.

"You need to calm down! You'll make yourself sick again." Beatrice scolded, keeping the flushed boy pinned.

"W-what!? G-get off of me! T-this is really really awkward." Wirt muttered, kicking lightly at the girl's legs in an attempt to move but not hurt her.

"But you'll start moving again if I get off. I'm not going to let you get sick and die on me, Wirt." With that, she sat up and folded her arms, satisfied when she saw the boy laying still now. "Now hold still so I can swaddle you."

"Like an infant!? No thank you... I'm to old for that." The red faced teen mumbled, reaching for the ends of the sheets, only to have his hand stopped by Beatrice as she beat him to it and tucked him in herself.

"Just hold still so I can tuck you in and take care of you." She grunted, fighting against the other's limbs as she finally managed to tuck him safe and sound under the blankets.

"What happened to the Beatrice who used to call me names?" Wirt gasped, a tad surprised by the girl's words and actions towards him.

"That Beatrice was a blue bird who missed the heck out of you and your brother when you left." Beatrice shot back, patting his dark hair idly before frowning at his lack of a hat. "Also... I kind of owe you one for helping me turn human again..."

"R-really?" He winced a bit at the head patting, but soon began to settle after a bit.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" With a raise of an eyebrow, her hand stilled as the woman quickly turned to the window and went to close it.

"You really missed the heck out of me?" A smirk played on the boy's pale lips as Beatrice gasped and turned to him quickly.

"W-what!? I meant why wouldn't I owe you." A soft pink color had risen up into her own cheeks as she began to shake her head. "Now shut up and try to get some sleep. I'm going to get you some dirt-"

"Dirt?" Wirt wrinkled his nose a bit at Beatrice's choice of words, blushing in embarrassment when the girl face palmed.

"Its mom's word for potatoes..." She explained, shaking her head as she went quickly to the door to exit. "And don't you dare try to say another word to me until you've eaten."

Wirt rolled his eyes, sinking into the soft sheets under him as he nodded his head and shut his eyes slowly. Once he was settled in, Beatrice took her leave, heading straight down to the kitchen where her own lunch of potatoes had been waiting. She moved quickly and quietly to the bowl, careful not to make a single sound that might catch her mother's attention. However, one foot on a loose floor board was all it took.

"Beatrice, have you finished your dirt?" Her mother's kind voice rang behind her as she quickly swiped the bowl from the table and hid it behind her back.

"W-what? Oh, yeah mom." She muttered, looking in the direction of her mother now.

"Then whats that behind your back?" The older woman asked, attempting to take a peak.

"Nothing mom! Ugh, you always have to know everything..." Beatrice muttered as she quickly began to back up towards the stairs.

"If you insist... Just bring the bowl down when you get done with it." Her mother's laughter traveled up the stairs with her as the former blue bird raced back up to her room at her top speed.

Upon arriving into the room, she shut the door behind her and crossed over to her nightstand, placing the bowl there and turning to Wirt. She was about to wake the boy up, ready to force feed him the food just so she could interrogate him faster, wanting to know why he was still in the Unknown and just how in the world he had gotten into her room. She stopped however, when she saw how peaceful he looked in his sleep. His wild sienna hair was tossed about his forehead, framing his round, relaxed eyes nicely as he slept heavily, looking quite calm and his breathing even. She had never seen him look this calm before, so with a soft huff, she pulled up a nearby chair and sat upon it, deciding that it would be best if she simply waited for him to wake up again.


	4. Oh How Lovely Is The Evening

**A/N: Time for an update! XD Only because you guys are so amazing and I love all of your reviews! **

**Chapter Summary: Heres that brotherly fluff I promised XD I felt bad that it hasn't been really fluffy so I decided to post this filler chapter XD**

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><p><strong><em>Six Years Ago:<em>**

_All babies seemed to start out in the same form, appearing more like squishy piles of potatoes than actual human beings. Ten year old Wirt knew this to be a fact, as he pressed his face to the hospital's nursery room glass, scanning the swaddled bundles for the one that was supposed to be his. His step-father had informed him that the baby was a boy, so the older male paid closer attention to the blue blanket baskets rather than the pink ones. _

_"They all look the same..." He huffed, squinting his eyes against the glare of the hospital lights as he attempted to read the names on the baby carriers. _

_He knew that his stepfather's last name was Willows, though he did not know the new baby's name. Frowning even further, he began to look at the different names until he finally stumbled upon one that matched the his requirements. _

**_Gregory Willows_**

_With a soft sigh, Wirt stood on his tip toes and strained his eyes as he attempted to see what the baby looked like. He was so absorbed into his task, that he didn't notice the figure of an older male now standing behind him. He didn't even notice the hand being clasped on his small shoulder and the gentle shake that followed. _

_"Did you find him yet?" His stepfather's voice pulled him back into reality, causing him to wince. _

_"Yeah... I think I did." He muttered, not daring to look up at the man as he pointed in the baby's direction. _

_"There he is..." The man stated softly, patting Wirt's shoulder once more. "Would you like to hold him, son?" _

_Wirt winced at the use of the word 'son'. Ever since his mom got re-married, it always felt like this new guy was trying to take his dad's place. Sure, at least he was making an effort, unlike Wirt's own dad who only visited on the holidays, but it still hurt mainly because Wirt felt like it was his fault that his parents divorced in the first place. So with a suddenly cold expression, the smaller boy shook the hand off of his shoulder and frowned. _

_"No. I don't want to hold him... Hes not my burden to carry." He muttered that last line soft enough that his stepdad couldn't hear it, and he quickly tore himself away from the glass and took off in a fast pace down the hall._

_His head felt dizzy and heavy while the rest of him felt sick. Everything had happened so fast that he barely had time to catch his breath in between. First his parents divorced while he was at band camp, and suddenly his mother is remarried to a man who he hardly knew with a child on the way, and now that child is here and quickly taking Wirt's place in his mom's life. It wasn't fair to him at all! He never asked to be an older brother or for any of this to happen. In fact, no one asked him what he wanted at all. Everything happened without his say and everyone just assumed that he would accept things as is._

_"Not that anyone really cares what I think." He groaned, sitting in the hallway that was farthest from the window. _

_Huffing, he began to wonder what his mother was up to at the moment. She was probably resting a little bit, preparing herself to meet her new son. All through her pregnancy she seemed so excited for having another baby, to the point that at times it seemed as though she had forgotten about her first child. Though, Wirt had realized at that moment that this was probably a big change for her as well, and it would be best if he stayed away from the time being._

_"Hello? Are you Wirt Walters?" A female's voice asked from above him, once again forcing him back into the reality that he didn't want to be in. _

_"That depends. Whose asking for me?" His back went rigid and his voice cold as he spoke as he looked up and found a woman in a white medical coat. _

_"You're mother wants to see you, hun." The woman replied, offering her hand to help the boy up, which he refused and stood up on his own. _

_"She does? What a shock..." He muttered, kicking the floor and hitting his pockets. _

_"I take it this is your first little brother?" She smiled warmly, trying to sound kind._

_"First half-brother." Wirt correct as he folded his arms over his stomach slowly. _

_"Half or no, hes still your brother now." Her warm smile never faltered, as she attempted to shepard Wirt in the direction of his mother's bedroom. _

_"Hes my stepdad's child. Not mine." Wirt grunted, not wanting to move from his safe spot against the wall. _

_"Honey, hes here now, and even if you don't like it, you'll eventually have to get used to him." The woman said sternly, frowning at Wirt's stubborness. "Who knows, you might learn to love the little guy."_

_With a heavy sigh, Wirt finally dislodged himself from the wall, knowing that this woman was not going to leave him alone if he didn't. Frowning heavily, he set his eyebrows low on his face and began the walk of shame down the hall in the direction of his mother's room. He could feel that smile on the woman's face against his back, and not wanting to give her any satisfaction, he turned to her quickly and made sure he got the last laugh. _

_"No offence, ma'am. But I doubt that with every fiber of my very being." He shot back, turning swiftly and rushing away before the woman could react to this statement. _

_Unfortunetly, his sudden rushing got him to his mother's room in half of the time that he wanted to get there. He would have missed the room, if it hadn't been for that screeching sound coming from it that nearly killed Wirt's ears. Covering them quickly, he almost missed his mother's voice calling for him from over the noise. _

_"Wirt! Honey, please come here!" She called, putting Wirt on the spot once more. _

_Grunting unhappily, he entered into the room slowly, with his hands still over his ears. Looking with distain at the screaming bundle in his mother's arms. Frowning, he looked up at his mother's sweet and gentle face, picking up the tired and hopeful look in her eyes. _

_"Meet your new brother, Wirt." She smiled, patting the seat beside her for her oldest son. _

_Sighing, he shuffeled his feet in the direction of the spot and sat heavily done on it, not daring to look at the baby now. He could almost feel his mother's frown as the baby screamed louder, causing physical pain for both of them as Wirt covered his ears again. _

_"Honey, this is Gregory." His mother attempted again, trying to calm the newborn down by patting his back. "Would you like to hold him?"_

_"No. I wouldn't." Wirt muttered, still trying to block out the sounds coming from the bundle. _

_"Wirt, please..." She frowned, a tired tone taking away her early cheer. "He won't stop crying..."_

_"What do you want me to do about it? H-hes not my baby!" Wirt was quickly growing frustrated with how insistant everyone was being lately and to be honest he was already sick of it. _

_"Honey, I am very tired... Please don't be so difficult today." His mother plead, trying to offer him the baby once more. _

_"Maybe he'll calm down once his big broth-" His stepdad had attempted to cut in, but at this point Wirt had just about had it with everyone._

_"I don't want to hold him! I don't even want to be an older brother!" Wirt shouted over the noise that he quickly realized was no longer there. _

_Looking down at the little bundle, he found a curious pair of chocolate brown eyes staring up at him. They were such a deep shade of brown, that it took him a moment to realize that they were almost identical to his own. Wirt frowned at them, wincing when he saw tears gloss over them once more as the baby prepared to cry again. _

_"Oh gosh. M-mom, hes going to cry again!" Wirt gasped, his ears not ready for another beating. _

_"No hes not. Look!" His mother's happy voice was the only thing that caused him to look again, finding that the baby had settled once more. _

_Eyes widened, it was in his shock that his mother had passed the baby over to him to hold, and for a moment Wirt could hardly register the sudden weight in his arms. The baby's eyes seemed to be glued on him, watching every move Wirt made while holding him. A long silence passed between the two, causing the baby to whimper once more as his eyes filled with tears again. _

_"Wirt, honey... Say something to him." His mother urged, putting Wirt in a very awkward position as he searched for something to say. _

_"Um... Hello Gregory. Thank you for ruining my life with your existance." Wirt said, causing his baby brother to calm down once again. "I don't know why that calmed you down, but as long as you're not screaming then I am cool with it."_

_Gregory squirmed a bit in his swaddle suddenly, attempting to break his arms free but was quickly growing upset when he couldn't move. Frowning, Wirt finally found it in himself to help the baby out and to get him undone. Much to his shock, a chuddy arm shot out from the bundle and wrapped it's short fingers around Wirt's, holding it tightly like a child might hold a beloved toy. _

_"Okay, so you have my hand now. I'm going to need this back soon." Wirt grunted as he attempted to pull his hand away but found that the baby just wouldn't let go. "Or you can just keep it. I'll just cut off my hand at get a new one."_

_The baby smiled suddenly, nuzzling his plump cheek against the hand in his and letting his heavy eyes close. If Wirt didn't dislike this child so much, he would have found this action to be cute and heart warming. Instead he found it a bit threatening the way the baby acted around him, frowning softly at the little boy's actions. He turned quickly back to his mother to hand the baby off, only to find that she was fast asleep and that his stepfather had already left the room, no doubt going back out to the car to get his camera. _

_"Oh..." Panic began to settle into Wirt as he attempted to recalll all of his baby classes that he had taken with his mother on how to properly hold the baby. _

_To make matters worse, Gregory was beginning to awaken and whimper once more, and since Wirt couldn't cover his ears if he started crying this time, he had to think fast on what to do in this situation. He had nothing else that he wanted to say to the child, but since Gregory seemed to calm down at the sound of his voice, he thought of something quick. _

_'Oh how lovely is the evening, is the evening... When the bells are sweetly ringing, sweetly ringing." He had never been one to sing, but seemed to be working as Greg began to calm down and once again watch his brother in wonder. "Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong." _

_Much to his relief, the baby had begun to fall asleep, curling up closer to Wirt's chest as he slept. Sighing softly, Wirt smile a bit at the sight of the sleeping child, feeling both terror and relief that the baby seemed to be calmed by the sound of his brother's voice. _

_"Lets hope mom doesn't have me do this for you whenever you cry." Wirt chuckled, only to frown once he realize that this was a possibility. "Eh, maybe I'll just make you a tape... You know, just in case you feel like crying again..." _

* * *

><p><em><strong>One Year and a few months Later: <strong>_

_Being a babysitter was not one thing that Wirt wanted to be. Espeically when his brother was going through his 'milestones' and Greg's parents wanted him to film everything the baby did while they were out. Mostly he only had footage of Greg painfully teething, or making a mess of his lunch, nothing that Wirt considered to be exciting. _

_"Greg, just spare me and say something." Wirt groaned, setting the camera down as he watched the baby kick his little feet idly. "Just stand up and say something so I can put this camera away." _

_Much to his disappointment, the baby only half rolled onto his side and then back onto his back. Huffing softly, Wirt stood up and was about to pick up the baby when the phone in the kitchen rang. Forgetting all about his little brother, Wirt took off in the direction of the phone to answer it, leaving Greg in the living room all by himself with the camera still rolling. _

_"Hello?" He coughed as he placed the phone to his ear. _

_"Hello? Is this Mr. Willows?" A voice asked from the other end curiously. _

_"Um no, this is his son- Er, stepson. Wirt Walters" He muttered, clearing his throat once more as he spoke. "Um, may I ask whose calling?"_

_"Oh! Hello, Wirt, this is Miss. Dina." The woman introduced herself. "From the band team at the school. Do you remember me?" _

_"Oh, um, hello. Yeah, I remember you..." Wirt replied, knowing the woman to be an old friend of his mother's as well as the band team leader. _

_"Well, I just called to tell your father that your application for the team has gone through and your audition is set for next monday at-" _

_"Application? For what?" Wirt's eyebrows scrunched together as he frowned deeply. _

_"For the band team. We still have a spot open an-" _

_"Wirt!" A voice called suddenly from the other room, cutting off both of the older people from talking. _

_Wirt turned around suddenly, his eyes bulding out of his head when he found the source of the voice. He dropped the phone in his shock, only to pick it up moments later to apologize to Miss. Dina quickly as he placed it back to his ear. _

_"I-I have to go ma'am! I'll have my stepdad call you back!" He rushed his sentence, nearly dropping the phone again as he attempted to hang it back up._

_"Wirt!" The voice from before called again as Wirt finally hung up the phone and rushed into the livingroom, only to be halted by a pair of small arms wrapping around his legs. _

_"Greg! You're actually talking!" Wirt gasped, an excited laugh escaping his lips as he looked down at the little boy. "A-and standing! You're actually standing!" _

_He laughed again in amazement, reaching down and picking up the little boy in his excitement as he hugged him warmly for the first time ever, though this may have been done on the spurr of the moment. Looking over at the camera, which was just a few feet away at the side of Greg's blanket, Wirt realized yet another thing. _

_"Not just standing... You're actually walking..." He gasped, rushing over to grab the camera to see what it had picked up on. "Please tell me this was on..."_

_It picked up Gregory being left alone on the blanket, and the tears that filled his eyes when he saw his big brother leaving. It also showed him opening his mouth and attempt to shape his brother's name a few times before actually speaking it. Gasping softly, Wirt smiled widely as he watched the baby on the video sit up suddenly and begin to toddle, never giving up until he was walking to find his big brother. _

* * *

><p><strong><em>Present Day: <em>**

"Wirt! Look what mom brought to the hospital for me!" Greg giggled as he pressed the object to his brother's pale cheek. "Its the tape you made for me when I was a baby!"

Greg smiled widely, frowning when he saw clear tears running down his brother's face, coming from his closed eyes. He could tell that Wirt was still sleeping deeply, but the tears worried him greatly. Curling up closer to his brother, Greg gently nuzzled the tears away and reached for the tape player that his mother had dropped off as well. Gently placing the tape inside, he hit the play button and placed the device onto his brother's chest and smiled softly as he listened to the opening notes of the first song.

"Here Wirt. This will make you feel better. It always worked for me when I was little." Greg's smile widened as he took a deep breath and opened his lips to speak, his own voice singing in unison with Wirt's voice on the tape.

_'Oh how lovely is the evening, is the evening,_

_When the bells are sweetly ringing, sweetly ringing,_

_Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong.'_


	5. I Must Be Dreaming

**A/N: Time for an update! XD Welcome back to ISBHITM! This is chapter 5 and this chapter contains a bit more Infinite Eyerolls in it for those of you who ship them into the ground like I do XD**

**P.S: This is going to switch off between the two brothers, with Wirt in the Unknown and Greg in the real world.**

**Warning: Major Sadness factor in play here, but by the next chapter we're going to get some silliness when Beatrice's mother enters the story again.**

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><p><strong>The Unknown:<strong>

He was almost grateful that she was here with him. When Wirt woke up, or rather came back to reality from his memories, he found that his face was damp and that his heart was beating heavily in his chest. He had been crying, and he would have simply left it at that, if it hadn't been for the way he woke up. A pair of warm and loving arms were wrapped around his head and neck in an awkward hug, and soft hair was gently rubbing away his tears as they would fall.

"Shh, its okay, Wirt." Beatrice's loving voice muttered into his ear as she head him. "I've got you."

In any other setting, Wirt would have been frightened by Beatrice's uncharacteristic behavior, but today he found himself curling up closer to her warm frame and snapping his eyes shut as his tears fell faster. He couldn't stop thinking about his little brother. That little boy who silenced himself to hear his brother speak, spoke up and moved from infant to toddler just to see him again- All of that love he tried to show his older brother and all Wirt ever did was push him away from him. The tape he made for him was his way of pushing Greg away further, giving the boy just a piece of him to go off of just so that he wouldn't have to deal with him. The camera had been another way, with Wirt taking on the task of memory keeper as if it were homework and not a bonding experience between him and Gregory. It all made him feel so guilty now that he had seen it again, and now that his brother was away from him, he used every fast falling tear as a wish to take it all back.

"Wirt, shh. Calm down." For a moment, he had forgotten that Beatrice was there, and her voice had startled him just a touch.

"I-I'm sorry..." The young male muttered, suddenly remembering that he had hands as he forced them between himself and the girl as he brought them up to cover his eyes.

"Wirt? Whats wrong... You can tell me." She whispered, as if frightened to raise her voice to quickly while her friend was in such a fragile state of being.

"M-my... Memories..." Wirt admitted without a second thought, furiously wiping away his tears as he did so.

"Oh... So thats what you were dreaming of..." Beatrice realized, her pale hand rubbing up and down Wirt's back as he sat up a little more.

"Y-yeah..." He muttered, finally taking his eyes away from his slightly damp eyes to look up at her. "I was so blind back then..."

"Yeah, I noticed." Beatrice attempted at a joke, but quickly frowned when she saw Wirt's eyes glossing back over. "Who were you remembering?"

"Someone very important to me..." The older brother did not feel worthy enough to use his little brother's name... Not when the little one had held his name so highly.

"Was is Sara?" The sudden question seemed to startle both teens into a silence, aided on by the already heavy atmosphere of the room. "You never did tell me much about her..."

"N-no... It wasn't her... I don't think I'd ever cry over some one like Sara." He hadn't meant it in a bad way, but if he was dead honest with himself, he would admit that Sara was no Gregory.

"Oh..." Another awkward pause fell between them, but Beatrice broke it quickly with a new question. "Wirt, is she beautiful?"

"W-what?" A soft and sudden chuckle escaped Wirt's lips, but from where the male did not know.

"Sara... You said you really liked her, so I wanted to know..." With a soft sigh, the red-head twisted her fingers into the heavy material of Wirt's cloak and waited for her answer.

"Shes... Pretty..." He sighed out after a moment, rubbing his eyes again as he attempted to call back what Sara even looked like. "Dark brown skin and short raven's wing black hair that frames her deep, ink black eyes..."

"O-oh! She sounds kinda... Plain..." Beatrice admitted, all earlier thoughts of what this mystery woman could look like suddenly being replaced by the brief description Wirt had given her. "She must be some girl though... To have someone like you like her."

"Someone like me?" With a soft huff, Wirt looked up to meet the other's soft gaze.

"You know... Someone so vast and interesting..." Beatrice muttered, trying to think of ways to describe the male in front of her. "You know so much about so many things, and you have talent for a lot of things too... Like your instruments and your poems... Now I'm starting to see where Greg gets it from."

"G-Greg?" He hiccupped, his eyes widening and glossing over once more as another realization hit him. "All his little songs..."

Never once did he ever stop to wonder how or why Greg would burst into a spontaneous song which was always seemingly ad-libbed. Never once had he ever traced this strange habit back to his own habit of reciting poems. All along, his brother had just been trying to follow his lead and he never cared to notice it. Another pang of guilt struck him, and he felt another dry sob rise up into his throat as his pain from earlier quickly began to return. Beatrice seemed to sense this, and was quick to bring Wirt back into the safe spot that was her hug so he could cry in near silence. He stopped, however, as his forehead hit her shoulder.

"I can't go back..." Wirt muttered, his eyes falling shut as he allowed his tears to simply well up behind his eyelids.

"What are you talking about?" Beatrice frowned, looking down at the back of her friend's head as he spoke.

"I can't go back to them... To Greg and Sara and everyone else whose waiting for me back where ever it is I've come from..." He bit out his words bitterly, feeling a self loathing complex settling in. "All my life I've spent pushing everyone away from me and never letting anyone in... Whats the point of going back and facing everyone now?"

"W-Wirt... Don't say that! They need you over there..." Beatrice tried to assure him, tightening her hold on him suddenly. "Y-your brother is over there a-"

"My brother spent the first six years of his life without me really in it!" Wirt suddenly looked up, his tone turning very bitter now as he spoke. "I never once made any effort to be in his..."

"Don't talk like that! W-what about Sara? Would she want you talking like this?" Beatrice's heart rate was increasing rather quickly as she tried to choose the right words to say.

"I never even had the nerve to tell Sara how I really felt about her. Even if she did like me back, I would have to go through life feeling like a moron for my past actions..." Wirt groaned, his eyes squeezing even tighter as he attempted to hold back his tears. "Whats the point of even going back if I don't even want to face those who are there already..."

"Wirt..."

"I can't believe I was such an idiot..." His voice was low and brittle, sounding exactly like how he looked in this moment.

"I've never seen this side to you, Wirt..." Beatrice muttered, her voice shaking a little as she gently unwrapped her arms from around the other.

"I never showed it to anyone..." The brown haired boy sighed dramatically, turning suddenly and laying back down on his side, facing away from Beatrice. "And I never will as long as I stay here..."

Beatrice sucked in a deep breath at the last sentence that caught her ear, taking great shock in the boy's actions and words. She honestly wanted to reach out and to help him, even pull him back to her and hold him close until he was alright again. Wirt was her friend after all, and she owed him a great deal and somewhere in the back of her heart and mind, she honestly wanted him to stay with her in the Unknown, where she could watch over him always and keep him safe from thoughts like these. Still, she knew that she couldn't, and that sooner or later she would have to help him return to his home. Sighing painfully, she bit her lip and then parted her lips further to speak.

"Please, Wirt... For me?" She held her breath, watching as the boy's body suddenly went rigid.

"Do it for you... For Beatrice the blue bird..." A soft chuckle left his lips, giving Beatrice a false sense of hope as Wirt suddenly shot up from the bed. "Why on earth would I do that!?"

"W-what!?"

"I don't even know what you are! You, this house, this whole place could be a number of things! I could be doing this for a ghost of what once as, or for an illusion born from my imagination!"

"Wirt! I am a girl, and I'm your friend!" Beatrice gasped as she stood up quickly. "How could you even say something like that!?"

"This whole place is like something Greg would have come up with! Talking birds, magic trees, all of it!" Wirt exclaimed, waving his arms around the room in a dramatic fashion. "This could all be a dream!"

Beatrice's lips hung open, her eyes wide from the shock of what she was hearing. She felt a mix of sadness and rage at the everything that her friend had said about her and her home. With a sharp intake of breath, she shut her lips and gave Wirt a cold stare, watching as his arms dropped and his shoulders hunched, looking as though gravity was sucking all of the energy out of him. She took this moment to insert her own two cents, feeling that it was high time that she did.

"Pinch yourself then." She snapped, watching as Wirt bowed his head suddenly. "Go on, push over. Prove that this is all a dream then!"

A heavy silence passed between the two, and it continued on as Wirt began to take in very fast breaths as his head began to feel light and dizziness over took him. He began to sway a little, feeling as though a great weight was pushing him towards the floor the longer he stood. He didn't need to pinch himself, because he fell shortly after , just as Beatrice slid in to catch him. He hit the floor with a hard 'thump' and was surprised when he found something that he did not expect to find...

...It hurt...


	6. As Long As Love Remains There

**A/N: Be on the look out for this story's Promo Art on Tumblr. Also, I finally got my scanner up so I will be posting some Infinite Eyerolls as well.**

**Shout out to AnimePopCircle because I wouldn't be able to spell Endicott if it weren't for you XD Thanks to to Xou also for those three awesome reviews and thanks a mill for those who are still reading this story and reviewing it because reviews are love :D**

**P.S: PLEASE READ THIS! I made Margueritte and Quincy a married couple because come on, they are my second favorite OTP in OTGW and I thought it would be sweet.**

**Chapter Summary: Following in her husband's footsteps, Margueritte sets out on her own journey to visit her nephew and is surprised when she finds more common ground with him than she had intended. **

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><p><strong><em>Flashback:<em>**

_Baroness Margueritte Endicott clutched her riding back closer around her thin shoulders as she entered into the first tavern she came across during her journey, finding herself to be in need of some directions. She found herself very lost, but not as lost as one could be while in a place like the Unknown. Her heart hammered a bit in her ears as she pushed open the heavy door, finding herself greeted by a sudden warm rush of air from the tavern's insides, and several pairs of eyes set upon her figure in the doorway. She gasped, and began to hurry through the questions she had been practicing since before she walked in. _

_"O-oh my." She stuttered, hurriedly stepping into the tavern as the door slammed shut behind her from the force of the outside wind. "H-hello all-"_

_"Oi! And who might you be?" An older woman barked from some far corner of the room that was just out of the Baroness' view. _

_"Oh. Yes, well I am Mrs. Endi-" The poor woman was cut off once more, but this time from the physical presence of the woman from the corner. _

_This woman was much older than Margueritte, with her chubby face surrounded by a weather worn bonnet and a purple dress just barely stretching over her large frame. If the younger woman had to take one guess, she would have assumed that this was the tavern keeper, based souly on the fact that she wore a dirtied apron around her large hips and looked as though she had worked several hours in a day. Her firm eyes were set on Margueritte with a cold sneer on her lips, as if she did not like the air that this newcomer carried in with her. _

_"Whats someone like you coming into a modest tavern such as these?" The keeper asked, wiping her hands on her apron as she spoke._

_"I only came to ask for directions. My husband has set out to visit our nephews but-" A wave of the hand caused her to silence once more as the keeper walked further into the Tavern. _

_"Directions? So you're one of them pilgrims, are ya?" The older woman's sneer flickered into a smile but just for a moment as she refilled a customer's drink with a pitcher on a nearby table before turning back to Margueritte. "We had one of them boys in here before. Funny little thing, the peach pie was. Wore a dunce cap and a nurse's cape. Not to sure about that little one, neither, with his tin kettle cap and all-"_

_"My nephews! Yes, those are the boys my husband has gone to see." Margueritte's heart filled with a joy that only lasted until the keeper began to shake her head again. _

_"Haven't seen um in a fortnight. Not a clue where they made off to neither. Said somethin' about a woodsman though." The keeper muttered, once again refilling that same glass with the same pitcher as before. "You're best bet would be the Ol' Grist Mill in any case." _

_"Do you know where I could find that Mill?" Marguetitte asked, pulling her shawl closed tighter around her chest and bitting her bottom lip when she finished speaking. _

_"Ya wanna go North of this place and keeping headin' that way through Pottsfield. You'll reach the Mill in about a day's time if you ya leave now." The keeper finished, wiping off her hands once again in what seemed to be a nervous habit. _

_"Thank you, ma'am." The baroness nodded, reaching into the sewn-in pocket of her shawl and withdrawing a penny, which she quickly handed over to the keeper for her service. _

_"And thank ya for the pent. Should do us some good, it will." _

_With another nod, the Baroness quickly exited the tavern and began her long treck North, hoping to find the mill, her husband, and hopefully her young nephews. _

* * *

><p><em><strong>End Flashback:<strong>_

"Wake up, my little one." The young brunette male grunted softly as his hair was stroked, muttering a few soft words before cracking his eyes opened.

His deep brown eyes wrinkled up in the corners as he attempted to will away the oncoming ache that the sudden burst of light had brought to his pupils. Margueritte sighed softly in relief, watching as her nephew began to slowly ease himself up into a sitting up position. It took him a moment to fully gather both himself and to take in the figure before him, his eyes widening suddenly in surprise when he seemed to realize who she was.

"M-Miss Gr-" Wirt was cut off by a sudden clasp of both of his hands into her gloved ones as the woman softly chuckled.

"Hello, nephew." She smiled, patting his hands idly as she spoke. "Are you feeling well? The young lady of the house tells me that you took ill just a day before my arrival."

"W-what? Yeah... I feel fine, just-" Wirt pulled one of his hands away to cough into his palm softly. "Had a bit of an emotional break down fueled by teen angst and such..."

"Oh? That must have been why my husband came to visit." Margueritte muttered, recalling Quincy's actions before he departed from their shared estate. "He had said something about feeling that it was high time for one."

"W-wait, Quincy was coming for a visit?" Wirt sat up a little straighter, his eyebrows scrunching together as he tried to make sense of this statement. "I haven't seem him since... Well, since our last visit, I guess."

"He never came by here?" She felt her heart stop beating for a moment, but then she quickly noticed something else out of place. "A-and where is your brother?"

Wirt's face paled, his eyes suddenly darting about the room as a million thoughts seemed to run right through him at once. In an instant, the boy was out of his bed and on his feet, about to rush to his cape, but quickly changing his mind and taking a step towards the door, only to stop and stand perfectly still as he began to slap himself in the face quickly, causing great alarm in his 'aunt'.

"Young man, what are you doing!?" She gasped in surprise and confusion, watching as Wirt once again rushed to his cape.

"I escaped the Unknown with Greg... I had to have! I remember getting out of the water with him and Jason..." Wirt muttered to himself, fumbling to toss his cape over his thin shoulders. "I saw the flash lights... This doesn't make any sense..."

The sudden presence of Margueritte's hand on his shoulder caused Wirt to nearly jump out of his skin, pulling quickly away from her hand and whipping around to look up at her. However, her gaze was no longer on him, as it was now focused on an object that had tumbled out from under his cape when he put it on. It was a tape, not the one he had made for Sara though, rather it was a blank tape with only one song on it. Both frowned curiously at the object, as the woman bent down suddenly to pick it up, amazed by what she saw.

"Nephew? What is this object?" She asked, handing it back to Wirt slowly. "I've never seen anything quite like this."

"Its... A tape..." Wirt muttered, taking it back quickly, only to slowly turn it over in his hands as he studied it. "B-but how did it get here...? The only one who knew about this tape was... Greg..."

"Your brother?" She gasped, her curiosity only growing the more the other spoke. "But what kind of device is a- Tape?"

"Its like a square record that plays music." Wirt replied off handedly as he quickly began to search for his cap, only to find that it was not in the room.

"Nephew..." The woman spoke quickly, her hands shaking a bit as the odd string of words left Wirt's lips. "You are not from here, are you?"

Wirt went quiet, standing suddenly and clearing his throat awkwardly, casting his gaze downward to avoid the other's look of concern. He wished that Beatrice or her mother would just walk right in and get him out of the situation, but he knew that this was unlikely so instead and decided to just own up to things and tell her the truth.

"I'm not... I don't really know what this place is or how I got here, but I do remember falling into a lake with Greg before I first came here." Wirt admitted, patting his hair softly as he spoke. "I remember getting back home at one point too... Its somewhere over the garden was, but... Now I'm back here and I'm not sure if I'm going to try to leave again."

"And why ever not?" She looked very concerned for the young man, reaching out from him, only to have him step back.

"I'm just... Starting to think I'd be better off here... Alone..." He replied, not moving away from her this time as she stepped forward.

"But, what about your brother? And your home?" Margueritte frowned, placing her pale hand onto her nephew's shoulder and giving it a little shake.

"Greg doesn't need me back home... No one does." He muttered, surprised when Margueritte suddenly took him up by the ear and directed his gaze back to her. "I got Greg home and hes safe... My task is completed now, I guess..."

"Young man, such talk will get you nowhere in life." She scolded him, as sternly as a mother would before letting go of his ear.

"Funny... Beatrice said something like that..." Wirt uttered in a soft tone, his eyes going a tad wide in both amazement and fear of the woman in front of him.

"She is a wise young woman, and she will make a very fitting wife for you, but that is not the point at the mome-"

"W-wife!? Shes just a friend!" Wirt gasped in surprise. "A-and I'm not sure how this world works or anything, but I'm pretty sure that once I leave, I won't be able to see her again."

"See who again?" Beatrice had taken that moment to enter the room with a food tray balanced on her thin arms, a look of confusion etched on her freckled face as she entered.

"A little distance does not cause harm to anyone." Margueritte kept on speaking, acting as though the woman had not entered the room. "As long as the distance between their hearts is minimal and the love remains."

"What does that even mean?" Wirt wrinkled his nose in confusion, watching as Beatrice simply shrugged her shoulders before crossing over to Wirt's side and placing the wood tray on the bed.

"How should I know? Shes your aunt." Beatrice teased, reaching over and knocking her friend painfully on the shoulder.

"Enough, nephew, I would like to invite you and your lady friend over to my manor for the afternoon." The well dressed woman gently took Beatrice by the elbow and began to lead her out of the door. "We'll be waiting for you downstairs."

With that, she closed the door behind her and headed for the steps, followed by a very confused Beatrice who wasn't just going to wait around for an answer to her questions.

"What did you mean by that? About hearts and stuff?" She asked, looking up at the older woman in wonder as she did so.

"It is an old saying. I cannot for the life of me remember where it was that I first heard it." She explained as she walked in swift strides down the stairs. "All I remember is that someone very wise once told it to me."

"In what context?" Beatrice made a funny face at the thought, her eyes now staring straight ahead of her as she walked. "Sounds like a lost love type of thing or something."

The older woman halted in her steps suddenly, her smooth face getting a funny look of its own as her mind began to process what the younger woman had just told her. Now she simply stood there, with a far away look in her eyes, a single silver tear fluttering down her cheek for a reason unknown to even herself. It wasn't until a full minute had passed that she did speak once more.

"Lost... Yes, I do believe you have that much right..."

Beatrice looked up at the woman in a wistful silence and simply nodded before following the older woman out of the house. After just a few moments of waiting, she heard Wirt's clumsy steps tumbling down the stairs as he followed after them and he soon joined them outside. With a soft chuckle, she waited for Wirt to join at her side and the two teens soon found themselves trailing behind the woman, who was still off in her cloudy little world for some reason. Unable to take the silence any longer, Beatrice finally turned to Wirt to talk to him.

"Hey, dunce. Tell me a story." She snapped suddenly, not giving him a yes or no.

"What? Why?" He replied, frowning at the sudden snapping.

"I don't know." She replied with a shrug. "Just tell me a funny story about Gregory or something, and make it a long one."

"Why Gregory?" Wirt pouted at the thought of his little brother.

"Cause hes more interesting than you. Are you going to tell me the story or not?" Beatrice asked, mocking his earlier pout with one of her own.

"I can only think of one right now, and its a little... Weird..." Wirt muttered as he began to rub the back of his head.

"Even better. Now get telling." The redhead said, opening up her ears for the story.

"Okay, so it goes like this-"

* * *

><p><em>Staring down at his six month old brother, Wirt frowned bitterly when he saw the child's eyes gloss over with tears for what seemed to be the millionth time that evening. Of course, of all times for Greg to begin teething, he just had to start when their parents were at work and Wirt was babysitting. Now, Wirt found himself at wits end as he attempted to soothe his little brother's pain while sparing his ears the pain of listening to the little boy crying.<em>

_"Greg! I am trying everything but you don't seem to like anything!" Wirt groaned as he sat on the floor, idly putting together his clarinet despite his stressed out tone. "Frozen fruit, wash clothes, even your teething ring and that pacifier that you threw down the stairs didn't help!"_

_The baby began to sniffle in response, whimpering and rubbing his little face in pain, trying to get the attention of his brother that he didn't even realize that he still had and never lost. To his little baby mind, if he couldn't see his big brother from his crib then he probably wasn't in the room. Little did he know that his brother was still there, and it gave him quite a jolt when the first few bars of his favorite song began to come from seemingly nowhere._

_'There we go.' Wirt thought, slowly getting to his feet as he played and watching as the child's eyes went wide in delight when he finally 'found' his big brother._

_The oldest of the two took a deep breath and began to play 'Lovely Evening' through on his instrument, hoping that this would keep his little brother calm long enough for him to think of a new plan. However, the moment the song reached its end, Greg began to sniffle and tear back up, as he remembered the pain he was in from his new teeth coming in and was no longer distracted from it. Grunting, Wirt began to play again, but it was too late and Greg had already begun to cry again. Softly at first, but then quickly rising in volume, making Wirt fearful that these cries would get louder if he didn't do something fast._

_"U-uh- Why don't we go call mommy on the phone?" Wirt suggested suddenly, putting his clarinet in the crook of his left arm and quickly going to lift his brother out of his crib before adding, "At least then she can share my pain with me if you start crying again."_

_Greg instantly clung onto the soft material of his brother's sweater and began to nom on the fabric, finding a bit of comfort in the action. Normally, Wirt would have frowned at such behavior, but he was desperate and felt that the sacrificed of one sweater for the peace of his ears was worth it. However, he knew that it wouldn't hold Greg for long, and he quickly made his way out of the nursery and headed down the hallway and in the direction of the stair case that would take him downstairs._

_"Okay... Now how to hold the handrail?" He muttered, realizing that his hands were full with his instrument and his brother, who had Wirt's seemingly free arm pinned to his small tummy as his continued to chew on his brother's sweater sleeve. "Both of my arms are taken at the moment, and I can't move one arm without dropping something... Maybe if I'm really careful-"_

_That phrase had been a mistake. The moment Wirt stepped onto the first step, he had failed to notice that there was a pacifier in his walk path. Upon stepping on the rubber trap of death, he found himself slipping and quickly toppling over himself and down the steps. Out of instinct, his left arm released the hold on his beloved instrument and heard it go clanking down the steps after him as he covered Greg's head with his now free arm as they tumbled. When they finally hit the floor, Wirt found out the hard way that they had beaten the clarinet down the stairs when it suddenly whacked him in the temple._

_"Ow..." He muttered, laying on his back with Greg still in his arms, seemingly unhurt from the fall, but beginning to whimper again as the pain in his mouth began to return. "I know Greg... You're in pain, but so am I so please give me a minute to gather myself."_

_Closing his eyes tightly, Wirt attempted to will away the pain in his arms, legs, and temple. He didn't even care where his instrument was at the moment, until he suddenly heard a blowing sound from beside his ear, which was amplified by the tube of metal. Eyes flashing opened, he sat up quickly to find Greg now teething on the blowing part of the clarinet, blowing idly onto the instrument every so often like he had seen his brother doing so many times. Normally, in a situation like this, Wirt would have been disgusted by this and would have rushed to clean the clarinet the moment he could. However, since it was keeping his brother quiet, he allowed him to teeth on it. Every so often, he would even press down on the buttons to play a note and surprise his little brother, successfully helping him to forget about his pain. The two brother's continued on with this made up song until Greg soon began to fall asleep on his older brother's lap at the bottom of the stairs._

_"There, the one thing that calmed him down... I'm still not going to tell mom about how I almost dropped him down the stairs to figure this out though..."_

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><p>By the time the story was finished, the two teens and their 'aunt' found themselves in the older woman's parlor, idly laughing over their lunches of chocolate cake and Earl Grey tea. The final punchline to the joke left the trio laughing until their sides hurt before finally calming down.<p>

"And you never told them what really happened?" Beatrice laughed between bites of cake. "Thats terrible!"

"It is not!" Wirt chuckled, sipping the Grey brand tea that his 'aunt' had served to him and his friend upon their arrival.

"You almost died carrying your little brother down the stairs. I'd say thats pretty terrible." Margueritte gasped with a soft laugh lining her voice, setting down her own teacup gently. "But I am sure you have learned to be more careful with little Gregory now, correct?"

"Yes ma'am." Wirt replied in a bashful tone as Beatrice playfully knocked him in the arm.

"I wish Gregory was here right now. I bet he has a whole boat load of stories about his favorite older brother." She laughed, though in all honestly she would have liked to have had the boy around for company.

"Bea, you know how the Unknown works better than me. I doubt Gregory would be able to come visit us." Wirt muttered, reaching over for another piece of cake and gingerly picking it up.

Margueritte stood up suddenly, her smile suddenly being replaced with a slight parting of her lips. With steps that suggested that she had her route of the living room mapped out in advanced, she slowly and carefully made her way to the large window pane that graced the far wall of her living room and stopped just an arm's reach before it. Gently, she reached out her hand and pressed her gloved palm to the glass, watching as a thin film of color less fog clouded the cool surface. The window faced the front court of Margueritte's half of the conjoined home. It was fenced in from the rest of the Unknown, keeping anything unwanted out.

"This place... It works in strange ways..." She noted, watching as a small mouse squeezed its way in through her metal fence. "Where those who are lost appear... And those found have free passage to leave..."

"Aunt Margueritte?" Wirt asked, slowly rising from his spot and crossing over to his aunt's side to see what she saw. "Is there a chance that..."

"I don't know, Wirt... But if Gregory is just as lost without his big brother and mentor as I believe him to be... Then there is a chance..."


	7. Where Those Who Are Lost

**A/N: Time for an update! XD Welcome back to ISBHITM! Gregory fluff in this chapter! :D**

**I felt kind of bad that you guys weren't really happy about the lack of fluff, so I decided to hold off on my original idea for this chapter and type up a fluffy and funny one instead. This is going to tie in Greg and Wirt again so it will be easier to go between the Unknown and the Real world with the two brothers.**

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><p>There was never a dull moment in the hospital room for Gregory. He always found something to keep his attention while waiting for his brother to wake up. This included things such as brushing out his brother's hair until it was smooth and shiny, washing his brother's face with a little washcloth he found in the hospital bathroom, playing that tape over and over again until he got bored with it, drawing pictures of all of his friends in the Unknown, or even spending some time with Sara the Bee. Right now he was keeping himself busy with the last of that list, idly braiding Sara's short hair as she had allowed him to do whenever she would come and visit.<p>

"And, there. Your hair style is all finished, ma'am." Gregory giggled, watching as Sara took out a compact mirror to look at her hair.

Several series of messy braids, with fly aways all over from Greg's tiny hands getting in the way were covering Sara's head. The ends of them were curled inward around her chin and ears and framed them beautifully. A few chuncks of shorter hair stuck out at random spots, despite the several hair pins Greg had used in an attempt to stick them down. Still, Sara felt herself chuckle softly as she closed the mirror and set it aside.

"Wow. It looks really nice, Greg." Sara smiled, reaching into her coat pocket and taking out a dime to give to Greg as a tip. "Thank you."

"And thank you." Greg smiled, taking his 'tip' and putting it on the bedside table idly. "I needed two pennies though, but I suppose ten will do."

"Two pennies? What for?" Sara asked, curiously standing up from her hair and turning to Greg.

"Thats how much the Frog Ferry costs, and Wirts gonna have to ride it again if he wants to get home." The little boy explained, reaching over and patting his brother's hand idly. "I don't think Wirt has any coins though, so I decided to pay for his ride for him."

"The frog ferry?" Sara frowned, carefully brushing a piece of hair out of her face as she looked down at her tiny friend.

"Yeah! I think I drew a picture of it once- Here it is!" A quick scan of the papers on Wirt's bed, and Greg instantly found his picture of the boat and handed it over to Sara. "Wirt and Jason the frog got to play music for a group of frogs! I was the drum!"

The girl took the photo and scanned over it a few times, smiling softly at the colorful image of the boat, the frogs, and a funny looking bird. Another chuckle left her as she set down the paper beside Greg and then took a seat back in her chair. Greg crawled over to the picture and placed it back on its original 'stack' idly before smiling back up at Sara.

"I've never seen that bird before in your pictures. Does he have a name also?" The dark haired girl asked, pointing to the blue bird in an attempt to keep Greg entertained.

Of course, to her these were just pictures from Greg's imagination. The pictures were interesting and colorful but also scary enough that they perked her curiosity greatly and made her want to know more about them. Whenever she would come to visit, Greg would always have a new picture that he was more than happy to tell her all about and today was no different.

"Thats a she! Her names Beatrice, and shes Wirt's girlfriend... I think." Greg muttered, going through his stack of pictures suddenly in search of another one. "Shes a girl and his friend, so I think she is... But they fight a lot so I'm not real sure about that friend part."

"Wirt's girlfriend is a bird?" Sara couldn't help bur crack up, shaking her head slowly shortly after. "How did he meet her?"

"Shes really a pretty princess! Not a blue bird." Greg pouted as he finally found the picture he was looking for and held it up. "Here she is! They met in a bush!"

The older girl took the picture from him and began to look it over. Like all of the other pictures, the outline was shaky and the coloring went everywhere, but it was still lovely enough that she could tell that Beatrice was a red headed girl with many freckles and a blue dress, and she could agree with what Greg had said about her. Smiling softly, she looked from the picture, up to Wirt's sleeping form and then back to Greg.

"She is really pretty." She giggled, winking to the boy suddenly as she began to giggle again. "So, is Wirt going to marry her?"

"You bet! And they'll live in a castle and eat dirt together!" Greg cheered, suddenly standing and throwing himself at Sara for a tight bear hug as they both began to laugh

"And write poetry for each other." Sara added, looking over at her sleeping friend and smiling.

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that!" Greg giggled, reaching out for Wirt from Sara's arms. "Hes just gotta wake up first!"

The dark skinned teen took Greg over to his brother and placed him down next to him gently. Upon being set down, Greg hugged his big brother gently around the neck and rubbed his cheek up against his, hoping that he wasn't embaressing his brother by mentioning Beatrice around him. Smiling sweetly, he finally released the hug and stood up on the bed, reaching over for the tape player that was still on his brother's stomach and pressing play, as he now wanted to listen to his favorite tape.

"Here you go, Wirt. Lets listen to music together!" He giggled, but his song was cut off by Sara's cellphone alarm suddenly ringing.

"Oh! I have to go to band practice now. Will you be okay on your own, Greg?" Sara asked, quickly digging her phone out from her pocket to click it off.

"I sure will! Say hi to Jimmy for me!" Greg replied, hitting the rewind button to start the song over as Sara nodded and then turned to leave.

Greg looked over his shoulder to watch her leave, and waved quickly goodbye to her before turning back to his big brother. He frowned softly when he saw a speck of dirt Wirt's face, and he gently wiped it away with his thumb. He knew how Wirt liked to keep clean and figured that since Wirt was asleep, then he would have to be the one to make sure that his brother was clean. Reaching over to the bedside table for a washcloth, he pouted when he found that it was no longer in its place.

"That nurse must've taken it." Greg pouted, slowly climbing down the side of the bed. "Welp, guess I'll just have to get a new one. I'll be right back, Wirt."

Toddling over to the door quickly, Greg jumped up a few times before finally reaching the door knob and giving it a hard yank. The door opened in an instant, and Greg used the little space in order to slip out of the room and into the hallway in search of the nearest nurse. He started to walk, and looked around the hallway and into some other rooms with open doors just to see if he could find a washcloth or a nurse who could give him one. He was just about to give up and return to the room, when he suddenly heard a familiar voice just down the hall.

"Excused me, miss. I'm looking for my nephew." The voice made Gregory's heart beat quickly in excitement, as he followed it quickly down the hall. "Yes, I was told that he would be here."

"Well, whats his name?" A woman's voice replied, and Gregory picked up his pace.

As he turned the down the hallway, he found not only a nurse, but also a man wearing a burgundy over coat and a matching top hat. He looked rather out of place in this type of hospital, standing out against everyone else in their t-shirts and jeans but to Greg he fit right in. With a sudden yelp of joy, Greg picked up his pace all the more just as the man turned to him, his face brightening up at the side of the boy.

"Gregory, my boy!"

"Unky!" Gregory rushed to the older man and threw himself at his legs at full force, hugging him tightly but then quickly pulling back to grab his hand. "I'm so happy you visited! Wirt and I don't get a lot of company other than Sarah."

With a soft chuckle, the older man allowed Gregory to pull him down the hospital's long hallway and into the familiar but somewhat cramped space that was Wirt's hospital room. The first thing Quincy's eyes shot to was Wirt's still laying form, and he found himself at a loss of words when he spotted the crazy contraption that was pressed to his nephew's pale face.

"Gregory, my boy, what are all those tubes attached to your brother?" He asked outright, stopping at the first bed and not going any further until Gregory asked him.

"Oh! Thats Wirt's breathing tube." Gregory replied, walking over to his brother's bed and crawling up onto it. "It reminds me of the Old North- Oh wait! I don't think I told you or Wirt about him yet, but I have a picture of him over there if you want to take a look."

Quincy rose an eyebrow before looking over at the bed he was next to and found a rather large stack of crayon drawn pictures laying on it. Curious, he reached over and picked up the stack and began to leaf through them. As he did this, Gregory yawned softly into his hand and laid down next to his brother and waited for their uncle to finish looking.

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><p>A cold Autumn wind blew through the opened windows of the hospital room, causing Gregory to shiver slightly and cuddle closer to his brother's sleeping form for warmth. Only the thin blue sheets of the hospital room's bed was keeping the pair shielded away from the old North wind that brushed their pale skin every so often, and while it did help just a little, it still wasn't enough to make Gregory feel comfortable. Grunting softly, the little boy uncurled his body and turned towards the opened window and gazed out of it.<p>

The sky was a frosty white color, with thick and heavy clouds blocking the bright yellow sun almost completely from view, save for a few beams of light that would peak out through the cracks. If the six year old had to guess, then he would say that snow was possibly in the brother's distance future. Knowing that snow wouldn't help the temperature outside, Gregory turned his back in from the cold and now faced his brother's side, now finding in interest in counting the wrinkles in Wirt's pajama shirt and frowning when he got up to ten wrinkles before finding that he was unable to count anymore.

"Aw beans... You're a mess, brother O'mine." He giggled, attempting to smooth out the bump and lumps in the other's clothing. "But you'll fix yourself up when you wake up, I just know that you will."

With the final lump had been smoothed out, the six year old crawled out from under the covers and smoothed over those to make his side of the bed look a little neater. Once done, he gave a triumphant smile and hopped off of the bed and made his way over to his own bed, where he left his 'uncle' to look over his drawings. Upon walking over, the older man looked up from the picture he had in his hand and smiled widely at Gregory.

"Why boy, these are fine pictures- Yes, fine pictures indeed, they are." The man laughed, setting aside the one he had been holding and slowly getting to his feet. "You have quite a talent."

"Thanks, Unky. Sarah the Bee says so too!" Gregory smiled, his eyes casting over to the clock on the bedside table. "Shes at her Bee practice though, but she might visit before dinner. At least thats what she usually does when she visits, and she visits us alot!"

"Sarah? Was that the lass who accompanied you and your brother to my home?" With that, Quincy held up the crayon drawing of the bird in question.

"Nope, thats Beatrice. Sarah is a Bee who Jason Funderburker tried to ask out, but I said Wirt was the complete package so thats how we got over the wall the first time!" Gregory giggled with a childish innocence, drumming his hands on his knees for a moment as he spoke.

"Funderburkers- Walls... My boy, I do believe that you've been locked up in this place- this dreadful place- for far to long." The old man chuckled, though he did wince a bit as he looked around the hospital room with great disdain.

"Hm, maybe. Mom and dad said they think its good for me though to be with Wirt." Gregory smiled widely and gestured to his older brother. "Just in case he doesn't wake up, but I know that he will."

"Is that so?" Quincy frowned, walking over to his oldest 'nephew' and placing a hand on his forehead.

"Yeah! Sarah says so too! She has lunch with me and lets me do her hair and she even looks at my pictures!" Gregory said, already trailing off in excitement as he pointed to the stack of drawings. "Do you think Sarah's right, Unky?"

Quincy went quiet for a moment, and began to study his sleeping nephew's face a little closer. Wirt's skin was quite a few shades lighter than it had been when the two last visited him, but his skin actually felt quite warm against his palm, making him believe that the boy may have had a cold on top of his coma. Frowning, Quincy pulled the sheets further up Wirt's throat before going to the window and closing it and drawing the blinds over it, muttering to himself about why the window had even been opened in the first place. Gregory replied with a silent shrug and toddled towards the hospital room door and sat down in front of it for no other reason other then to observe his brother and uncle.

"Unky? Is Wirt going to wake up soon?" He asked again, wondering if the adult would say anything different than the hospital nurses had.

"I think that your brother is a strong young man." Quincy replied as he turned to Gregory now. "So I do believe that he will."

"Thats good. At least someone agrees with me." Gregory smiled, standing up and walking over to his uncle to hug his legs. "I miss playing with Wirt though. I wish he wasn't sleeping for so long."

"My boy, sleeping isn't such a bad thing, especially with your brother in the shape that he is in currently." He replied, lifting the boy into his arms. "The only thing we can really do now is to wait and see what happens."

"But that will take forever!" Gregory groaned, throwing his hands up into the air and sighing heavily.

"Nonsense, time goes by much faster when you're having fun." Quincy smiled, carrying the boy out towards the door and opening it slowly. "Let us leave this room for a bit and we'll see if your brother's condition improves at all when we get back."

"Great idea, unky!" Gregory cheered, squirming out of his arms and onto the floor before racing out of the crack in the door. "Lets get some food, and then we'll see if Sarah wants to go for a walk with us!"

"Splendid idea, my boy. I've always wanted- well not always- wanted to meet your brother's friend. She sounds like a bright young woman." Quincy replied, stepping out into the hallway and closing the door.

He stood in the door for a few moments longer, his gaze turning only once to the closed door, which his oldest nephew was concealed behind. With a soft sigh, he turned away from the door and looked down the hall for Gregory, who was happily calling down the hall to a few nurses who walked ahead of them. With a soft smile, Quincy straightened his coat and walked in long strides down the hall after Gregory, noting just how short the hallway seemed to be and soon finding himself in the lobby where he had first entered the hospital. He spotted Gregory in an instant, chatting things up with a young, dark skinned woman with her black hair done back in a simple braid.

_'So, this must be the young lady Gregory mentioned.' _He thought, halting in his steps once he was close enough to see the girl fully.

Her gloss coated lips were turned up in the corners to form a soft smile, which would have looked genuine if it hadn't been with the darkened bags that hung under her eyes and the far away and clouded look that her pupils held. She looked absolutely tired, as if sleep hadn't been apart of her thoughts in such a long time. Around her shoulders, she clung to a blue jacket with a chapped, glove-less hand , and it didn't take a second glance to realize that it wasn't just the cold that was bothering her. She seemed truly worried but also rather puzzled as Gregory attempted to keep a conversation with her.

"Uncle Quincy came and visited us too!" Gregory chirped, suddenly pulling Sarah's hand into both of his own and pulling gently at it. "We were going to go for a walk too if you wanted to come with, Sarah."

"That sounds nice Gregory, but... Don't your parents need to sign you out of the hospital first?" Sarah asked, her voice holding the spirit that her face lacked.

"Nope. I only visit Wirt when mom and dad are at work, but sometimes I get to stay overnight and have a sleep over." Gregory smiled, pulling at her again and pointing to the hospital's exit. "Unky says that time will go by faster if we go for a walk, and that Wirt will wake up faster if time goes by faster, so we should go for a walk before it gets dark!"

"Your uncle said that?" Sarah looked up and frowned softly at that.

"Mhm, he says lots of crazy things! Now lets hurry and walk before it gets dark!"

Chuckling softly at the boy's enthusiasm, Sarah stood up slowly from the chair she had been sitting in, and allowed Gregory to pull her along. Allowing the boy to go on one of his famous talks, Sarah's smile soon dropped down, making her face appear aged, tired, and worried all over again.


	8. A Dime For The Ride

**Chapter Eight: The Sign Of Three (Bad pun)**

**Okay guys, we are quickly approaching the end of our story, stopping at ten chapters just like the original short. As a bonus, I will be drawing concept art for this story, but only THE FIRST THREE REQUESTS will get to be drawn, so pick a scene and add it to your review for a chance to get that scene drawn by me, the author. **

**Chapter Summary: Lets see where a walk in the woods will lead our mismatched trio both in body and mind. **

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><p>Golden brown leaves blew passed the ankles of the company as they tracked across the cracked sidewalk that lead passed the High School. Gregory lead them using nothing but an old stick he had picked up off of the ground and his free hand, which waved in haphazard time with the stick's movements and shouting out random orders to Sarah and Quincy, who was being rather quiet at the moment. That or Gregory just wasn't being loud enough for him to respond. Sarah trailed close behind the small boy, quietly marching in time with his steps and bowing her head as they walked passed the track shack where she had last seen Wirt and Gregory together, both awake and lively. She shivered at the thought, and pulled her jacket tighter around her medium frame as she followed after the boy.<p>

"Um, Gregory? Are we going back to your house?" The young woman asked, finding that the path they were walking felt very familiar.

"We're going wherever the ol' North Wind blows, Sarah!" Gregory replied with a dramatic wave of his stick and a sharp turn to the right. "And hes blowing us waaay off course right now!"

"Was he the big storm cloud in your picture?" Sarah asked kindly, watching as Gregory shook his head.

"Nope! Hes a real big cloud who bullied the cloud kingdom so I beat him up!" He replied, tossing the stick off in an unknown direction and jumping up and down. "And Wirt'll have to beat him too so that the cloud queen can send him home!"

"Gregory... Wirt will wake up when he wakes up. He doesn't have to do any of that stuff." Sarah said, gently offering Greg a warm smile.

"But if he doesn't, then he'll turn into a tree and get grounded into oil by the woodsman for the beast's lantern!" Gregory said, his face suddenly paling as he hit his pocket. "Oh no! That reminds me!"

"Gregory? Why would Wirt turn into a tree?" She asked, frowning softly at the image that entered into her mind at that sentence.

"Because Adelaide of the Pasture wants to fill Wirt's head with wool because the beast says so." Gregory replied, before adding quickly. "Oh, wait! We melted her, so shes not a problem anymore."

"Then why would the beast be a problem?" Sarah asked, frowning as she watched Gregory hit his other pocket quickly.

"I don't think we beat him yet... I fell asleep before we did, I think." Gregory muttered, his face suddenly scrunching up.

"Whats wrong, Greg?" Sarah questioned, watching as the boy fished around into his pockets and withdrawing the dime she had given to him earlier.

"Phew. Nothings wrong now! I have enough to pay for Wirt's ride!" Gregory replied, taking another sharp right suddenly before Sarah had time to react.

With a sharp cry of laughter, the boy took off running in his new found direction, leaving Sarah and Quincy behind in his tracks as he did so. The dark skinned woman reached out her hand, about to call out to Gregory but finding her words caught in her throat as she lowered her hand. It was cold out, and so she instead shoved her hand into her coat pocket and took off slowly after Greg. She was feeling concerned about the boy all the more now, his once innocent babbles of a made up world now seeming to fill his reality more and more. At first, Sarah thought nothing of it, but now she was beginning to feel like this 'Unknown' was Gregory's way of saying something else.

"That whole world seems... Symbolic..." She muttered out loud to anyone who would hear her, bowing her head once more as she followed after the sounds of Greg's shoes tapping the concrete pavement. "I wonder if this is his way of coping with Wirt... Maybe the beast is fear or something..."

At that moment, her voice died in her throat and she halted in her steps when the bottom spoke of an black, iron fence soon entered into her line of vision. Stopping, she looked up slowly, her eyes following the pole until she reached the top of an over hanging sign that read 'The Eternal Garden'. Her blood ran cold as memories of Wirt and Gregory jumping over the wall soon entered into her mind, but she quickly shook them away and scanned the area for Gregory, whose giggles she could still hear from nearby. Running a little faster after them, she soon found Gregory standing in front of the wall, holding the dime in his small hands as he attempted to throw is over.

"Gregory? What are you doing?" Sarah called, rushing over to him and stopping just a few feet in front of him.

"Oh, hi Sarah!" Gregory giggled as he attempted to toss the coin again, only to have it come back down at him. "I'm trying to throw this coin over the wall so Wirt can have it."

"Over the garden wall?" Sarah frowned, watching as Gregory tossed it up again.

"Mhm! Thats where I left Wirt." He replied, causing Sarah's heart to twist into painful knots as he caught the coin and suddenly handed it to her. "Will you throw it for me?"

Sarah blinked a few times, but then gently took the coin and backed up a few steps. With a hard throw, she managed to toss the coin over the wall and listened as the metal piece clanked against the train tracks on the other side. Gregory let out a soft whoop of joy and then thumbed up Sarah quickly. Lovingly, he patted the wall's stone surface and gave it a nod. The little boy then looked passed Sarah suddenly, seeing something that she didn't, and smiled widely as he took off running, once again leaving her behind at the wall.

"Oh, Gregory..." She muttered, taking a few small steps passed the gate and into the graveyard, taking special care in stepping around the maze of graves as she searched for the little boy, finding him just a short distance away and kneeling in front of a simple headstone. "There you are..."

Upon stepping closer, she found the boy's face to be twisted into one that looked rather uncomfortable, and maybe even a bit confused as his small hand pressed over the carved lettering on the stone and dragged across it. The earlier joy from his face was now gone, even from his large eyes. Frowning, the girl kneels beside Gregory in an attempt to see what he saw.

_'Quincy Endicott 1805-1870' _

"Gregory? Who is this?" Sarah asked, wondering if the identity of the deceased had anything to do with Gregory's face.

"I-its unky... Its the name he showed us at his house..." Gregory murmured as he ran his hand back over the lettering."B-but I don't get it... He was in the Unknown with us and everything! S-so how can he be here?"

"Gregory..." Sarah whispered, suddenly pulling the boy into her arms and sighing heavily.

"If hes dead... Then aren't Wirt and Beatrice are dead also...?" Gregory muttered, his eyes never once leaving the tombstone.

"G-Gregory... Your brother is at the hospital right now... Hes not dead." She attempted to assure him, pulling him closer once more. "And hes not over that wall either..."

"B-but he has to be! I paid for his ride and everything a-and..." Gregory's bottom lip trembled as his eyes finally tore away from the headstone and he buried his face in Sarah's chest. "A-and Unky came to visit us! He visited us!"

"Gregory! Your brother is in a coma! Hes just sleeping and thats all there is to it!" Sarah suddenly cried, her head spinning from the boy's little tale still. "The Unknown was just a dream, Greg. You were just sleeping when you fell into that lake."

"No! It was real!" Gregory insisted with a soft gasp. "U-Unky came from there t-to visit us! H-he was right behind you when we left!"

"Greg, the Unknown isn't real... Y-your uncle... I... I don't know who you saw." She muttered that last part, watching as Gregory balled up his fists in frustration.

"B-but Wirt has to still be there! H-he can't come home if hes still there!" Gregory cried, grabbing at fistfuls of his hair as he attempted to piece things together. "O-oh no! Maybe t-the Cloud Queen was right!"

"Greg-"

"S-she did say t-that Wirt couldn't come back with me..." Gregory squeaked, his hands clenching and unclenching a few times as he spoke.

"Greg..."

"What if Wirt can never come back, Sarah!? Just like Unky now that hes in the ground!?" Gregory gasped as he slapped the stone slab suddenly and pressed his forehead against it, letting fat tears fall down his cheeks as Sarah wrapped her arms around him. "W-what if I never get my big brother back, Sarah...?"

"Gregory! I don't know!" Sarah yelped suddenly, pulling the boy closer to her and burying her face in his soft hair. "I just don't know..."

She closed her eyes up tightly and listened to the sounds of Gregory's soft cries and sniffles, slightly muffled against her jacket. In the background, she heard a train approaching on the other side of the wall, and tuned out Gregory's cries to listen to it. If she listened carefully enough, she probably would have heard the sound of the dime pinging against the metal railing, following by a soft plop in the lake on the other side of the wall.


End file.
